DeepSeek Raises $15B Two Days After US Federal Ban Order
Just two days after federal agencies in Washington were instructed to eliminate DeepSeek's AI technology due to security issues, the Chinese laboratory secured approximately $15 billion, positioning it among the largest financing rounds in China. Potential investors include CATL and Tencent. This comes on the heels of over $7 billion raised in June at a valuation of $50 billion, with an additional $1.5 billion sought in July at around $71 billion, and plans for a domestic IPO next year. Established in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek is focusing on AI infrastructure despite US restrictions. Other notable investments in the sector this month include Moonshot AI's $2 billion and Manus AI's $500 million. Liang possesses an estimated 81.6% ownership in DeepSeek.
Key facts
- DeepSeek raised about $15 billion, roughly 100 billion yuan, per Bloomberg
- The round came two days after US federal civilian agencies were ordered to remove DeepSeek technology
- CATL and Tencent are cited as potential investors
- DeepSeek raised over $7 billion in June at a $50 billion valuation
- In July it reportedly sought $1.5 billion at a valuation near $71 billion
- An IPO in China is floated for as early as next year
- Moonshot AI secured $2 billion at a $20 billion valuation in May
- Zhipu AI and MiniMax listed in Hong Kong in January, valued near $29 billion and $7.2 billion
- Liang Wenfeng founded DeepSeek in 2023 after co-founding High-Flyer
- Liang retains an estimated 81.6% stake in the Chinese operating entity
Entities
Artists
- Liang Wenfeng
Institutions
- DeepSeek
- Bloomberg
- CATL
- Tencent
- Moonshot AI
- Kimi
- Manus AI
- Zhipu AI
- Z.ai
- MiniMax
- High-Flyer
- WireScreen
- TechCrunch
- Financial Times
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Hugging Face
- China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund
- Huawei Technologies
- Alibaba
- National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund
- Big Fund
- Reuters
- Big Fund III
- Tencent Holdings
- Hillhouse
- South China Morning Post
- NetEase
- JD.com
- Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd
- Monolith
- Loyal Valley Capital
- Shixiang
Locations
- Hangzhou
- China
- United States
- Hong Kong
- Shenzhen